


Sick and Tired But Lost in Your

by 27summer



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 09:23:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1545794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27summer/pseuds/27summer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Quinntana Week Day 2- Comfort/Fluff. Quinn is sick and Santana comes to take care of her, which brings complications. After 4x14, I do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sick and Tired But Lost in Your

When she regained consciousness, Quinn’s first instinct was to grab a weapon. Unfortunately, her weakened immune system made it pretty much impossible to move. She buried her face back into her pillow and hoped that her intruder would make the attack quick. She listened as the trespasser came into her room, muttering Spanish profanities. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Oh, shut your mouth, Blondie, I came from New York to the land of the geeks just to take care of your invalid ass. How about a little appreciation?” Santana dumped her bag onto Quinn’s desk, a worried look on her face.

“No one asked you to come.” Quinn managed to turn over, groaning in pain as she did so.

“Yeah, well, someone had to make sure you didn’t die in this hole.” Santana sat down on the edge of Quinn’s bed and patted her leg. “What can I do to make you feel better?”

“Nothing. It’s just a cold that has to run its course.” Quinn started coughing and struggled to sit up until Santana came to her aid. “Thanks.”

“It’s what I’m here for. And this seems like more than a cold. You can hardly move,” Santana said as she propped up some pillows behind Quinn.

“It’s just because of the weather. It’s freezing right now. It’s making my bones achy. And being sick aggravates everything. But I’ll be okay.” Quinn tried to smile but ended up coughing once again.

“Why are your bones achy, Old Lady?” Santana asked, pressing the back of her hand to Quinn’s forehead. “And you’re burning up.”

“Quit babying me, I’m fine.” Quinn batted away Santana’s hand. “It’s because of my accident. I’m mostly okay, but there were some effects that aren’t going to go away.”

Santana frowned, pushing Quinn’s hands away and stoking her cheek. “Oh. I- I didn’t know that. How come you never told me?”

“Come on, Santana. You know we don’t talk about things like that. We make bitchy remarks to each other and make fun of other people.” Quinn closed her eyes and leaned into Santana’s touch. “That feels nice.”

“What does?” Santana asked as she continued her rub her hands over Quinn’s face.

“You touching me.” Quinn rested her head onto Santana’s shoulder. “Your hands are nice. They feel cool.”

“See? I am useful for something. And you’re going to let me stay here and take care of you until you feel better.” Santana helped Quinn lie back on her bed, pulling the covers up over her. “I know you feel hot but it’s cold as balls out and you need to keep this blanket on you until I say otherwise.”

“Bossy,” Quinn murmured as she burrowed under her blankets, rolling over into Santana.

“You like it.” Santana stood up, grabbing her bag and pulling out a thermometer. “Open up, Fabray. I want to take your temperature.”

By the time Santana was done taking her temperature, Quinn had fallen back to sleep. Shaking her head, Santana pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling out her laptop. At least she could get caught up on her shows while she waited for Quinn to wake up.

\-------------------

A few hours later, Quinn woke up once again to Santana. This time, the other girl was poking her in the side. “God. What are you doing now?”

“Trying to wake you up. You need to eat and take some medicine.” Santana helped Quinn up into a sitting position. “Plus, you were coughing a ton in your sleep and I was worried you were going to choke to death and I’d be blamed.”

“Your concern for me is overwhelming.” Quinn shot Santana a glare that was highly ineffective. “I didn’t know you cared so much.”

“Yeah, yeah. Look, I brought you some soup. It may be a little cold but I looked in your fridge and didn’t find anything. Have you eaten anything thing in days?” Santana asked, settling down next to Quinn, a bowl on her lap.

“I have. I just- I got sick and it was too much trouble to leave.” Quinn took the spoon from Santana and began to eat. She immediately started feeling a bit better. It was good to have something solid in her stomach. She’d been surviving on leftover take out and peanut butter sandwiches since she’d gotten sick.

Santana rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you call? I’d have been here sooner. I only found out you were sick because Rachel mentioned she’d talked to you and you sounded awful.”

“Didn’t want to bother you.” Quinn finished eating and handed Santana back the bowl. “Can I go back to sleep now? I’m still tired.”

“Not yet. You’ve got to take some medicine.” Santana handed Quinn the pills and some water. “And you’re full of crap. You’re not a bother. I’d do anything for you.”

Quinn swallowed the pills and wiped her mouth before lying back on her bed. “Can you pull the covers up? I’m cold again.”

“Sure.” Santana pulled the blankets over her, making sure Quinn was completely covered up. She brushed the hair away from Quinn’s forehead, placing her hand on it. She was pretty sure Quinn’s fever had gone down a bit but she was still worried. “You can’t get sick like this, okay? You can’t do that me.”

“Mmm,” Quinn mumbled, already half asleep.

“I’m serious. It scared me to death when I got here and you looked awful. You have to take care of yourself.” Santana waited for Quinn’s response, glancing down when she was met with silence. She was already asleep. Santana shook her head. It was probably better that way. She didn’t need Quinn to think she was going soft.

\------------------------

It was pitch black dark when Quinn woke up again. There was a weight on her stomach. She reached down and felt silky hair. Santana was slumped over on her. Quinn nudged her awake, smiling when she looked up at her. “Hey. You stayed.”

“Of course I did. I was afraid you were going to choke to death on your own phlegm.” Santana glanced at the clock and groaned. “3 in the morning. I’m usually only up at this time if I met a hot girl at the bar. Something tells me you aren’t up for that.”

“Not now.” Quinn smirked. “But I am feeling a little better.”

“Good.” Santana propped herself up on an elbow, using a free hand to feel Quinn’s face. “You’re not nearly as warm.”

“You must be my good luck charm. You saved me.” Quinn smiled at the bashful look on Santana’s face. “Thank you so much.”

Santana tangled her hand into Quinn’s hair, scratching her nails along her scalp. “I told you before that I’d do anything for you. I meant it.”

“Mmm. That’s nice,” Quinn mumbled, closing her eyes. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s taken care of me. Thanks.”

“Quit thanking me. That’s not why I’m here. I just- I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you. I want to take care of you.” Santana screwed up her eyes as she spoke. She’d said more than she’d meant to. She didn’t want Quinn to know exactly how much she cared about her. That would only give Quinn all the power and she wasn’t ready for that. She wasn’t sure she was ready to be that vulnerable with her yet.

“Why?” Quinn gazed up at Santana. She rarely had a chance to see the other girl so unguarded. Santana wasn’t one to let her feelings show. Without thinking, Quinn brushed her hand over Santana face, waiting her to open her eyes. “Why do you care so much?”

“I don’t know,” Santana said, looking down at Quinn, a little surprised that she would bring this up. Quinn was the only person on earth more closed off than she was.

“Really?” Quinn scoffed and shook her head. “There’s got to be a reason. You haven’t managed a visit since you moved to New York but I get sick and all of sudden, you’re here? Come on, Santana.”

“Hey, I don’t remember seeing you in New York. You weren’t in hurry to spend time with me.” Santana maneuvered herself out for under Quinn and began to pace the room. “But that doesn’t matter. I didn’t come here to argue with you.”

“That’s the point. Why are you here? Why do you care what happens to me?” Quinn attempted to sit up but fell back against her pillow, too weak to move.

“I can’t explain it, okay? I know it’s crazy but I just-” Santana cut herself off, glancing up at the ceiling. “I care about you, Quinn, and I need you to be okay.”

Quinn shook her head in disbelief. “Okay, you care about me. Why is this the first time you’ve come to visit me? Why haven’t you called or texted me?”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Santana asked, already knowing the answer. Quinn avoided the difficult subjects but when she finally decided to talk about something, she wouldn’t let it drop until they settled it.

“No. I mean, you’re here. No one else is. That has to mean something. Rachel knew I was sick but she couldn’t get away. You came. Why?” Quinn asked simply.

Santana came back to Quinn, sitting on the edge of her bed. She pulled the blankets over Quinn again, making sure she was warm. Finally, she lifted her eyes and shrugged. “I care about you. A lot. More- more than I probably should.”

“You- you mean-”

“I mean I can’t stop thinking about you. Ever since the night we spent together, I’ve wanted more.” Santana looked away from Quinn. She couldn’t stand to see pity in her eyes. She knew that would kill her.

“Why haven’t you said anything about it?” Quinn gaped at Santana, unable to contain her shock. “I never would’ve guessed. You never acted any different.”

“Of course I didn’t. We agreed it was a one time thing. You never brought it up. What was I supposed to say, ‘Hey, Quinn, I think I’m love with you?’ Come on,” Santana retorted, slapping her hand against the bed.

“You love me?” Quinn’s eyes widened as she processed Santana’s words. Everything else she’d said flew completely over her head. All she heard were those three words running through her mind over and over again.

“Uh.” Santana started shifting anxiously as she tried to think of something that would get Quinn to back off. Eventually, she realized she had no choice but to tell the truth. “Yes. I love you. And not as friend, although we are friends. But I know the difference. And I know what happens when I fall in love with my best friend and she doesn’t love me back. You don’t have to sugarcoat it. I’m a big girl. Just say it already.”

“Say what? I’m not Brittany, Santana. This isn’t the same.” Quinn pushed herself up so that she could sling an arm around Santana’s waist. “I’m surprised but-”

“But you don’t feel the same. This doesn’t have to turn into a big thing.” Santana jumped up once again and began pacing. This room was too small for her. She had no room to breathe. She needed some space.

“Don’t walk away. That’s what you do when things get scary but you can’t do that now. I am way too sick to chase after you.” Quinn struggled to stand, wobbling a little because her head was spinning. “Wow, this may have been a mistake.”

Santana rolled her eyes when she saw what Quinn was doing. She rushed over to her, grabbing her sides to steady her. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be up.”

“You’re were going to run. I had to stop you.” Quinn slumped, her short burst of energy waning quickly. She rested her head on Santana’s shoulder.

“Oh.” Santana held onto her. “I don’t mean to run. I just care about you so much and I couldn’t take it if this blew up in my face like everything else does.”

“I’m not everyone else,” Quinn whispered into Santana’s neck. “I may get scared sometimes but if you want me to stay, I’ll stay. I know what it is to get left by everyone in your life. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Good.” Santana tugged Quinn until they were sitting on the bed again. “You don’t need to be up right now. You’re still sick.”

Quinn shook her head, refusing Santana’s attempt to get her to lie down. “We’re going to talk about this. I’m not avoiding this.”

“We don’t-”

“Yes, we do. If we drop this now, we won’t talk about it and it’ll be months before we speak again. I want us to figure out what this means.”

“You’ve changed a lot, Fabray.” Santana ran her hand through Quinn’s hair. “I thought you’d find the nearest guy and try to screw the gay out of you.”

“Yeah, I already tried that. Right after our two time thing.” Quinn laughed when Santana glared at her. “It was only once. I panicked. It- it was a disaster. I realized I didn’t want to be sleeping with guys because I was scared of my feelings for you. So I stopped. And I accepted that there’s nothing wrong with who I am.”

“Is was that easy?” Santana asked, a little jealous that Quinn was able to figure things out far easier than she ever did.

“No. I think how I acted in high school pretty much shows I’m adept at running away myself. But I don’t want to do that anymore.” Quinn shrugged, a little unnerved by the look Santana was sending her way.

Santana forced herself to stay sitting next to Quinn, resisting her natural urge to run. She couldn’t afford to lose another friend and she knew this conversation would definitely change things between them. “I don’t want to do that, either. But I don’t want to lose you. I- I can’t, okay? I can’t handle it what this means.”

Quinn nodded, her gaze softening. She understood why Santana was scared but she couldn’t help wishing that the other girl would take a risk. “If that’s what you want, we can forget this conversation ever happened. I’ll pass back out and you can go back to New York and it’ll be like you never came. Nothing has to come of this.”

“Is that what you want?” Santana asked, feeling a little disappointed, even though Quinn was giving her exactly what she asked for.

“No. I want you. I want to explore what’s between us. But if you can’t, if you’re too scared, then I still want to be your friend. We’ll give it a couple of weeks and we’ll go back to how it was.” Quinn yawned. She knew they had to finish this conversation soon or she’d fall asleep in the middle of it.

“I- okay.” Santana didn’t know what else to say. Everything was spinning out of control so quickly. That’s not what she wanted but she didn’t know how to stop it.

“Okay,” Quinn repeated, falling back onto her pillow. “If that’s what you want. I’m going to go to sleep. I’ll talk to you in few weeks. Call me when you’re ready.”

“I will.” Santana waited for Quinn to fall back to sleep and covered her up, patting her arm and kissing her forehead. “Good bye, Quinn.”

\-------------------

Several hours later, it felt like the day was repeating itself. Quinn awoke to Spanish profanities as she tried to remember what happened. She recalled Santana surprising her and taking care of her. And of course, the two of them managed to make things far more complicated than they needed to be. She had told Santana to go, that they’d talk again in a few weeks. It had been dark, but she was almost positive that Santana had left. So why did she hear her right now? “Santana? Is that you?”

“Yeah.” Santana smiled sheepishly, settling down next to Quinn. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s okay. I just- I thought you left. What are you doing here?” Quinn squinted, still half way certain that she was hallucinating.

“I was going to. But you were sleeping and I just couldn’t.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “Don’t. I’ll be fine. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“It’s not that.” Santana bit her lip, still a little hesitant. “I don’t want this to end like that. You know what’s going to happen if I leave. We’re not going to talk, we’re going to go back to avoiding each other. I don’t want that.”

“Oh, Santana. I don’t know what to say to you. You don’t want to be with me but you don’t want me to avoid you. Tell me what you want. I am too sick to deal with this right now.” Quinn didn’t mean to be impatient but she really needed Santana to decide exactly what she wanted. She couldn’t take much more waffling.

“I- I do want to be with you.” Santana spit the words out before she could convince herself to change her mind. She’d spent the whole time Quinn was asleep arguing with herself. She wanted her. She knew this thing with Quinn was special. She just had to gather up all her courage to take the risk. And that was what she was doing.

“Really?” Quinn asked, unwilling to really believe what Santana was telling her.

“Really,” Santana confirmed, using her thumb to trace Quinn’s lip. “I’m terrified right now and I’ll hate it if I lose another best friend because I decide I’m in love with her. But I think I’d hate it more if I left without trying.”

“Oh.” Quinn closed her eyes at Santana’s touch. It was hard for her to stop from throwing herself at Santana but she needed to be sure. She needed to know that Santana was sure. “I’ve said it before: I’m not Brittany.”

“I know that.” Santana trailed her fingers all over Quinn’s face, the touch softer than she had ever used before.

“Do you really? Because you keep saying things that make me think you don’t.”

“Quinn, I- I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Pushing herself up to a sitting position, Quinn managed to look Santana in the eye. She captured one of her hands between her own and held own tight. “I want you to realize that I’m not Brittany. Our relationship isn’t going to be like the one you had with her. You can’t manipulate me like you did her and I won’t believe every word you say.”

Santana shook her head, not liking where this was going. “It- it wasn’t like that. I didn’t control Brittany. I loved her.”

“I know.” Quinn squeezed Santana’s hand, careful not to let go. “I’m not trying to bad mouth her, I’m pointing out how we’re different. You and I will fight. A lot. They’ll be times we won’t be able to stand each other. I need to know that you’re ready for that. That you can handle it. Because if you can’t, if you’re expecting this to be the same as your relationship with Brittany, we might as well stop right now. It’s not going to work.”

“I- I know this will be different.” Santana spoke slowly, choosing her words cautiously. She sensed this was important and she didn’t want to turn Quinn away. “I can’t promise to always handle things the right way. But I’ll try. I swear, I want to be with you, Quinn.”

Her heart pounded in her chest as she listened to Santana’s words. This was what she wanted, Quinn just couldn’t believe it was actually happening. She’d dreamed of Santana so many times since their night together. But she’d always thought the other girl would always go back to Brittany. Nobody else ever chose Quinn, it was hard to believe that Santana would. But here she was, saying she wanted her. “I believe you.”

“Great.” Santana grinned like an idiot. She wasn’t used to someone wanting a relationship with her. Wanting to sleep with her, sure. But actually dating her? The only one who ever really wanted to date her was Brittany and even she could really live without her. But Quinn wasn’t Brittany. She knew that. She knew this would be different. And she really couldn’t wait to experience Quinn Fabray in all her glory.

“I’ll try my best, Santana. I want this to work.” Biting back a yawn, Quinn blinked several times. She needed to settle things with Santana before passed out again.

“Hey, you need to go back to sleep.”

“But-” Quinn protested even as she allowed Santana to push her back onto the bed.

“No way. I told you before, I need you to be okay. We’ll talk more when you’re better.” Once Quinn was relaxing in her bed, Santana let out a small breath. “I’m not going anywhere. Not if you don’t want me to.”

“I don’t. I want you to stay.” Quinn shied away when Santana bent to kiss her. “We can’t. Don’t want you to get sick.”

“I won’t. Rachel made sure that everyone who comes in contact with her had a flu shot.”

“How’d she manage that? I would’ve figured that you would resist on principle.” Quinn smiled up at Santana, fighting sleep. She didn’t want to miss out on anything.

“She followed me around quoting health statistics. It got to the point where my choices were flu shot or murdering her. And I’m too cute for prison.” Santana matched Quinn’s smile with one of her own. It was kind of amazing how crazy she was over this girl.

“You are,” Quinn agreed, finally shutting her eyes. She really couldn’t stay up much longer. “Love you, Santana.”

“Love you, too.” Santana leaned down, pressing her lips to Quinn’s in a soft kiss. There would be time for more later. They had all the time in the world now. Nothing would get in their way.


End file.
